Picos in March

[vstromming]

Thought I'd put a thread up as inspiration for anyone else.

 

I've been wanting to ride The Picos for a while now and catchup with my friend who lives in Spain.

 

Timings were due to needing to use up accrued holiday and seeing my friend.

 

I left home on 20th for the 2300 Ferry from Portsmouth to Caen. UK Border Force were being their usual jobsworthselves. EVERYONE was being searched - evidently French schoolchildren and old biddies on a beano are a security threat.... They honestly do make even the American TSA seem polite.

 

Friday was Caen, via Chantonnay and Saintes to Saint Andrez de Cuzbac in a B&B. I did a brief stop at Pegasus Bridge that I last went to on a year 7 trip. It was then motorway (no tolls) to Chantonnay for a McDonald's. Bit of a scare at a service station when none of my cards would work on two pumps but they did on others. Then it was a lot of backroads to Saintes. From Saintes it was tolls down to St Andrez. Tolls were a lot easier than I thought. No rushing to get through the barriers. Just wait for a ticket, take it and pay at the next one or pay in advance. The weather was great and quite warm at 19°C in winter gear. French driving wasn't toooo bad but not knowing where the cameras/police were i was overtaken now and then by locals until I started to trust the tom tom "danger zone" warnings..... the tiredness hit me when I walked into the room after 405 miles on the road since the morning.

 

Saturday was St Andrez via Biarritz and Basque backroads and Tolosa to Ibis Centro Bilbao.

 

Started off spitting but soon dried up. However, on the toll road to Biarritz the wind was something else. Really quite dodgy at times. Stopped off in Biarritz for lunch but the heavens opened. Across the border via the incredible backroads. I had to give up around Tolosa and take the tolls again though due to large amounts of roadworks. Bilbao was a bloody nightmare to navigate.

 

Sunday was a day off in Bilbao with my friend seeing the sights.

 

Monday was Bilbao via Mirador del Vega Pass, Balcon de la Cardosa, Puentenasa, La Hermida, Potes, San Glorio Pass, Riano and finally Leon in an old Hospital turned hotel. Started off damp but not raining until I got to the Mirador vega pass. Absolutely sheet rain and gales hammering all over the place. Managed to go through a very deep puddle at speed which filled my boots with water. Over the passes was genuinely dangerous with visibility of 30ft and very nearly getting blown off. It calmed down prior to Potes but the San Glorio had snow everywhere and more strong winds. Once through Riano it calmed down again.

 

Tuesday was Leon via Ponferrada, Verin, crossing the Portuguese border at Santo Andre, Fiaes do Rio and finally to a Mercure hotel in Braga. Fantastic weather. Some amazing roads. However a mile into Portugal and I was almost run off the road by a woman in a mini and chased by a Mastiff..... Yet more unbelievable roads via Fias de Rio and then back onto the main road where it was a van that tried to ram me. Again, going at or above the limit and following traffic. Some of the worst driving I've ever experienced and all within a few hours.

 

Wednesday was Braga to the Granaries of Soaja, up the mountain roads to the border at Pontebarxas through Ourense and into Lugo to an apartment. More brilliant roads through the mountains. Stopped to pet the stray dogs (i think) all around Soaja. Gave up navigating Ourense and stopped at a McDonald's on the outskirts. Then it was up what would have been a good road to Lugo if the potholes weren't big enough for to fit a bike in.

 

 

Thursday was Lugo, Polla Allende, Cabo Vidio, Cudilero and onto Oviedo. Route was even more all over the place here with some parts that were effectively gravel forestry tracks.

 

Friday was Oviedo, Covadonga, the lakes, back down to Riano, up the San Glorio again, back through Puentenasa and finally to Bilbao again for the ferry (Saturday afternoon) which should get me to Portsmouth around 2030 tonight. A much better day weather wise now. Practically zero wind on the high passes and dry - albeit snow still about.

 

I see a lot of people spening 3/4k on these trips.

 

I think all in the trip cost me roughly £1600 for EVERYTHING including food, fuel, accommodation and ferry costs. Both ways I had a cabin - and wouldn't recommend otherwise. Food on the ferry is VERY expensive and the whole place is a bit like gods waiting room. Fuel is slightly cheaper over there. Food similar. For anyone who's coeliac/gf Spain and Portugal are very good for it.

 

I don't drink anymore and have to avoid caffeine so there's some cost cut out there - tbh i can't see why people do drink on a bike trip.

 

There are a LOT of Spanish police about - everywhere - so you need to be careful. Tomtom Go was pretty good at showing camera locations but not perfect.

 

All in i did about 2100 miles with another 80 or so to go tonight. I'm pretty knackered, the rear pads are shot, the chain desperately needs adjustment and god knows what I'll face when I get home but I loved it.

 

 

 

[Simon Davey]

Bloody hell, that sounds like hard work! But, what a trip. 

Many thanks for sharing @vstromming, and welcome to the forum. 

[bonio]

Great summary mate.

[vstromming]

Thanks guys. 

 

Was my second euro trip albeit riding in the UK for almost 20 years.  

 

Wanted to make people aware it can be done in the earlier months and you don't have to spend £3k for it either! 

[Ian Frog]

Very similar to the trip we have planned for the end of June, the plan is Santander into Picos and cross into Portugal with a couple of nights in Porto.

Nothing booked apart from Ferry and first night stop so flexible. Duration 14 days and prefer air b`nb or hotels along the way.

I would love to chat with you @vstromming if you don`t mind ?  For tips and suggestions.

Cheers

Ian 

[vstromming]

On 05/04/2025 at 18:31, Ian Frog said:

Very similar to the trip we have planned for the end of June, the plan is Santander into Picos and cross into Portugal with a couple of nights in Porto.

Nothing booked apart from Ferry and first night stop so flexible. Duration 14 days and prefer air b`nb or hotels along the way.

I would love to chat with you @vstromming if you don`t mind ?  For tips and suggestions.

Cheers

Ian 

 

Yeah, no problem.  Send me a message. 

[Steve_M]

Weather and “interesting” incidents aside, that sounds like a great trip. 
 

We do spend around £3k on our tour but that’s for two of us for two weeks, and we don’t deny ourselves treats (cake stops being our major downfall).

 

Interesting to see you use the roads around Vega De Pas - an area I have good memories of from my first tour with my good lady.

[vstromming]

13 hours ago, Steve_M said:

Weather and “interesting” incidents aside, that sounds like a great trip. 
 

We do spend around £3k on our tour but that’s for two of us for two weeks, and we don’t deny ourselves treats (cake stops being our major downfall).

 

Interesting to see you use the roads around Vega De Pas - an area I have good memories of from my first tour with my good lady.

 

Yeah I hear a lot of people on the facebook groups saying you need 3k plus per person to do something like this.  I could have done it a lot less still but I ate pretty well and stayed in reasonable hotels - the exception being Lugo where it was a bit poor 

 

Yeah, it's a shame I couldn't really use the roads around there more due to the utterly shocking weather!

[Steve_M]

6 hours ago, vstromming said:

 

 

Yeah, it's a shame I couldn't really use the roads around there more due to the utterly shocking weather!

We were in the region in September last year. Day 5’s weather was appalling so we made the decision to hurtle across to France to ride the Route Des Cols (Pyrenees) a day earlier than originally intended, disappointingly missing out that area. 
 

I’m not sure where people are staying to spend £3k per person, though. Our entire budget for two of us was around £3,500. It was slightly more last year due to the bike breaking down and we ended up spending an extra couple of nights in and around Toulouse/Carcassone.

 

 

Edited April 9 by Steve_M

[vstromming]

6 hours ago, Steve_M said:

We were in the region in September last year. Day 5’s weather was appalling so we made the decision to hurtle across to France to ride the Route Des Cols (Pyrenees) a day earlier than originally intended, disappointingly missing out that area. 
 

I’m not sure where people are staying to spend £3k per person, though. Our entire budget for two of us was around £3,500. It was slightly more last year due to the bike breaking down and we ended up spending an extra couple of nights in and around Toulouse/Carcassone.

 

 

 

 

You hear it a lot on the Facebook groups which is a shame as I think it puts a lot of people off.  Then when you start digging you find that they only want to stay at 5 star hotels, get pissed out of their skull each night etc etc etc. 

 

I kind of wish I had avoided the Vega Pass that day.  Just a few hours of absolute hell whereas I could have been in Leon a bit longer and visited some of my old haunts when I went backpacking with the same friend years ago.